Whats wrong?

Question

I just got a fish that I didnt know was sick untill after I bought him and I can't return him until he dies. I don;t know whats wrong with him though. His fins are clamped and very ragged. he has a cut on his head and he keeps going upside down. I think its a swimmbladder problem but I don't know if thats it and I want to Know if he's sick or just beat up before I put him in the tank.

Answer 1

Is he being kept with other fish? If he wasn't like this in the store when you bought him, someone in the tank is being a bully! It would be best to remove the new fish asnd set him up in a separate tank to treat him.

Before using any treatment, you should figure out what the problem is. If you use the wrong medication, you may do more harm than good (and be out the money for the meds and the fish).

These links have diagnostic charts and photos that will help you figure out the cause of the problem(s): http://www.fishdeals.com/fish_diseases/stressdisease.shtml,
http://thegab.org/Articles/GoldfishIllness.html, http://www.bettatalk.com/betta_diseases.htm

Once you can put a name on a problem, look up info on a few websites for treatment options. Once your fish is doing well and you want to put him back in your main tank, try taking all the fish out (keep in a clean bucket for about 20 min with water from the tank) and rearrange all the decorations/plants. Whoever was being a bully and defending his territory, now has no territory and all the fish can be reintroduced as equals. You should still keep an eye on interactions in the tank because larger fish or ones with more aggressive behaviors may still try to push smaller, less aggressive fish around. If this happens, you may need to set the bully up in its own tank, or exchange it for another fish.

Answer 2

They male medicine for clamped fins. its a chalky tablet that you let disolve int he water. They also make medicine for pretty much all the stuff youve listed. What you should do is go to any pet store that sells fish and find where they put the medicine and fish products...if you cant find it then ask an employee. Tell them that your looking for somthing along the lines of and All Purpose medicine for fish.

Answer 3

he sounds like he's been through the wars, was he like this when you bought him?? what kind of fish is he?

are you keeping him in an isolation tank? if not, i would, just in case he's carrying something nasty and infects your whole tank. i would still return him, especially if he's still in the bag and looking like crap.

if you want to keep him, put him in an isolation tank, if he's a tropical fish, keep him nice and warm, late 70s-80s degrees, in lovely clean water (and keep it lovely and clean) and see if he survives the night. he sounds like he's been in some really crap conditions. do not feed him, especially if he's got swimbladder. if he survives the night you can try him on cooked de-shelled pea to rinse him out (fish laxative). for the cut on his head i'd had some melafix to try and help heal that up, and when it's not too exposed and started to heal, add some aquarium salt.

Answer 4

You should you just put him in a little fish carrier and then go to the store. And buy , there is this kind of medicine for fish that helps heal cuts.
Good Luck!

Answer 5

try putting him into hes own tank and add some stress coat to the water u can get stress coat at walmart it calms the fish down and also fixes the water ph and so on

Answer 6

he probably has fin rot. if the fish knows the rotting is happening, he puts hios fins on his sides so that the fish cant get anymore infections. only on 1 side.